Metamorphose
by Kupo Stiltzkin
Summary: Monster one-shots. -Story 2: Years after the Johan case, a reporter tried to uncover the truth, and the first person he thought of interviewing is Dr. Kenzo Tenma.-
1. First Advice

**First advice**  
Fandom: Monster  
Words: 1093  
Characters: Dieter, Tenma Kenzo  
Warnings: Spoilers for the manga, up till volume 18

At age forty-eight, Tenma Kenzo was still the prudish doctor he had met years ago, all kind and goofy grin.

Eva once told him '_that rueful smile was his daily defense mechanism'_, covering up any sentiment he might have shown like a poorly applied make-up, lest he be asked. '_And you should've drawn Kenzo's eyebrows all droopy, because that way the doodle might actually look like him.' _She had paused to fish out another cigarette from her purse and light it up without skipping a beat, blowing another series of smoke to Dieter's face._ 'Just a tiny bit, though.'_

Dieter noticed his scent first, the memorable tang of disinfectant, sporting a half-ragged gray suit (big surprise: the peanuts they gave away for salary at the MSF couldn't afford him to buy a decent outfit), his hair was much shorter than the last time the boy remembered, but it was the lines on the doctor's face that had him concerned.

Back then, with the assassination plan at his gears, Tenma had always looked wary and worn. _Like a scalpel drawn_, that's how Dieter would describe the man in his darkest days. He couldn't ignore Tenma's comment on how he had grown past him and already stood a head taller than the doctor. There was a hint of secret pride in his eyes, and Dieter bashfully ducked his head when Tenma said he must be quite the head-turner at school.

Dr. Reichwein had said the exact same thing to him years ago, when he finally hit his growth spurt and towered over the plump therapist in less than a year, and it made him bristle with unspoken joy.

The surgeon just smiled at him, fondly and choking full of unspoken love that was ready for his patients and treasured ones, and asked Dieter if he'd like some sugar in his coffee.

If you had lived for years, all of your life experiences are chiseled on your face, Dieter once heard the saying – he couldn't remember when or who said it – and saw the proof on Tenma's facade. Years of medical practice and wagering between life and death has etched deeply in his eyes. There were two lines around his mouth now – the smiling lines - that was more visible since his last visit. In all practicality, Dieter thought it was impossible, but seeing Tenma's aging face brought him back to one thought. Time didn't wait on people, and its effect was visible on everything.

He stopped bringing the soccer ball everywhere right before high school, the skin was all peeled off and tattered, the white turning to muddy brown and black turning to none—but he kept it still in his closet, unlike all of his other toys and childish possessions. He lacked the practice to become a professional, burying his adolescent dream along with Tenma's first gift, but Dieter knew the other path he chose would be even better.

"I'm afraid I didn't really keep in touch with the World Cup news," Tenma laughed, and Dieter noticed the man's blatant honesty, never concealing the truth enough to protect himself.

"You missed all the fun. Everyone was parading down the road all night and—" He was ready to mash out the massive details of the latest world cup, ready to narrate the story of the festivities all day long if he had to, but then snapped back to a proper tone when he remembered why he had come to the old apartment in the first place. "Anyway, you don't have all day to hear me rant."

"It's all the rave back in Japan," the doctor's voice was of fond recollection and amusement, "my nephew and I stayed up night after night to watch the match. He actually cried when Japan lost. We stopped watching after that."

"I thought you're not going to come back." Dieter accused, half wanting the man to stop or even choke on his coffee.

"I heard you're going to med school," Tenma replied, giving his coffee a sip – black, not his favorite, but one of his requirements. He smiled to the boy from across the coffee table, amidst the underlying tang of anesthetics. Dieter stirred his coffee and wondered if Tenma had pulled out the set on his last minute – it smelled faintly of soap, but there was a sheet of dust from under the cup.

Returning the man's grin, Dieter shrugged. "Thought I'd give it a try after hanging up my shoes."

And Tenma Kenzo smiled, despite Dieter's expectations. "I almost went back for good once," Tenma whispered this time, "but I realized it wasn't my home. You'd make a good one—doctor, that is. Much better than me, Dieter. I've always been told that I was not a team player."

"_You did the right thing_," the boy murmured again, this time a mixture of grief and bliss, and Dieter remembered the line as Nina's words after the man had stepped out of Johan's operation room for the second time, shedding off the genius surgeon's persona, a crumbling mess of a human in Nina's arms. The doctor in front of him stopped for a moment, lost in his own memories of the unforgettable day. "And you'll choose what's best by yourself. That's what you told me."

"I also told you _not_ to follow me, Dieter. That you _can't_." the corners of Tenma's lips curve up into an all-too-familiar smile, "You didn't obey that one."

"Weeeell," the boy smirked, "I was still holding on to your first advice."

When they left his apartment together, Tenma picked up the ball Dieter had somehow weasel out of his closet just for today's visit, and they both laughed when Tenma's kick made the ball landed on the pile of garbage.

Many of his patients had considered Tenma their best friend; a family even, after their limbo between life and death in his operation table, but Tenma had done even better than that for him. What baffled Dieter to no end until this day was the question if Tenma ever felt that way for those people. He had known the man almost half of his lifetime and barely heard him mention about his real family back in Japan.

He was already too big, too tall to hold on the doctor's hand now, but he supposed it's all right for him to follow in the footsteps. Then Tenma slung one arm over his wiry shoulder and pulled him closer, and as Dieter caught their reflection on the café's window, he couldn't tell where his family started and ended.

_end_


	2. A step beyond the rain

**A step beyond the rain**

The Hidden Chapter - Kenzo Tenma part 2, January 2002

The man called Wolfgang Grimmer was buried at the Düsseldorf cemetery, a place covered by the shades of giant maple trees. His gravestone was only engraved with a name given by 511 Kinderheim and the years he'd spent. There was no mentioned detail at how he was once married and had a son.

Kenzo Tenma was the first to arrive, and as he reached the grave, placed his picnic basket aside, saying that he once promised a picnic with Grimmer, with good cheese, sandwiches and wine. The doctor talked about his new job at MSF, the children at the orphanage, the people both of them knew, and the fact that it's such a nice day to have a picnic.

At the time the sky began to rumble, he finally stood up, dusted his trousers and called up to me.

After sending another letter to the MSF, I finally received another reply. Dr. Kenzo Tenma had agreed to be interviewed for my research, under some terms that he insisted because of a delicate time constraint. I was allowed to give him only one question, and somehow made it relevant to the Johan case.

There was a much dire need for me to picture the man's face, since it's only a couple of years has passed since the Johan case, but his current look differed greatly from his initial mug shots that appeared on the headlines a few years back. He appeared wearing a simple tanned coat over a white shirt and grey pants. How his MSF wage could actually out rule a job as chief surgeon at Eisler Memorial Hospital was beyond me—they must have paid a handsome amount for all of his skills and talent.

He shifted his hold on the picnic basket, and looked at me in the eyes for the first time. "Now, Mr. Weber, I recall you have a question for me?"

I only have one shot with him, the only man that probably knew Johan the most and live to tell about it. I informed him all about the case of the serial killer Gustav Kottmann, and the high probability of someone controlling his last actions, murdering people that wasn't his usual target and his last words of, 'One, two, three...My mission is complete.'

"So you're concluding that another man--someone much more sinister--harbored this axe murderer and used him for a clean up job. Is that right?"

It was a deduction after a thorough research, but Dr. Tenma was slowly losing his smile after I informed him.

"I will tell you something that happened," Tenma drew a breath, and looked somewhere over my shoulder. "After I told him the truth about his mother, about his real name, Johan got up, he opened his eyes and spoke, telling me that their mother once chose—made a difficult decision on which of her children that was unneeded."

The doctor pulled the collar of his coat tighter. "It could have been a dream, but the next day, Agent Lunge called and said that Johan's disappeared--he's no longer at the hospital and nobody could find him."

He glanced at his wrist watch, and said, "I hope that answers your question, Mr. Weber. I must be going now to catch my flight."

The drizzle intensified as he stepped over to the cemetery's gate, but he turned around before leaving. "To tell the truth, I agreed to this interview because Mr. Verdeman informed me you're researching the ending of _Magnificent Steiner_."

A 1960's cartoon show that depicted a weak boy that turned into a muscular man that would knock down every enemy. Apparently, it was Grimmer's favorite show as a child. Officer Jan Suk had refused to discuss about the cartoon at all, and Fritz Verdeman had requested information about the last episode. The cartoon had played a major role on Grimmer's childhood and later influenced him greatly as an adult. From little information I have from Grimmer's victims, they have said how he broke bones and ripped out flesh with his bare hands when he was driven to the breaking point. The way they're picturing him, it was as if he had turned into another person—a monster, to be exact. It was later I discovered that such split personality cases rise occasionally from the research objects from Kinderheim 511 and shared a similarity to the personae of Magnificent Steiner. Most of them have been lost to suicides very early; Wolfgang Grimmer's last actions have been identified as one as well.

I told Dr. Tenma how the main character, the-supposed-to-be-hero, stood by his enemies himself and live the rest of his life in peace after discovering the truth about Magnificent Steiner.

"I see...thank you," Tenma's voice was gradually drown out by the rain, but his expression has brightened considerably, as if the cartoon series' ending has brought him much relief. "I'm sure Grimmer would be very happy to hear that. It's a pleasure meeting you."

He continued walking after nodding at me for the last time, passing a blonde young man with a bottle of wine in his hand. All the while my eyes were trained on Doctor Tenma's back, as the young man passed him, they didn't glance at each other or make any signs of acknowledgement.

The young man nodded at me briefly, walked straight to Grimmer's grave, placing the wine bottle -_ Forster Ungeheuer_ - on the ground, next to Dr. Tenma's sandwiches. "I hope this goes well with the food," the young man said, pushing his wet bangs from his eyes. "Such a shame to not be able to drink a good wine at a day like this."

Due to his medical condition, no photo of Johan Liebert was ever released to the public, but I have talked and met with his twin, Nina Foertnerr, and memorized every contours and shape of her face as I drew her sketch. Though my research was already done even before I interviewed Dr. Tenma—it had reached the conclusion before he agreed for this interview. I had not brought any cameras or any kind of recorders with me, and the details of this day would be taken with me to the grave. It will never become a published chapter of my _Another Monster_ book.

I left the cemetery and didn't turn back, following the path that Dr. Tenma had taken earlier.

_end_

A/N: writtten based on the Another Monster novel by Urasawa Naoki, translation can be found at : Mangascreener . com / stephen / monster / am / amonster . html


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